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Our Faculty

Working professionals who are experts in the field

At the School of Professional Studies, the emphasis is on "professional." We have recruited top-quality faculty who provide a balance between advanced academic achievement and the practical, real-world knowledge that comes from working in the field you're teaching. Faculty members include mayors, a district attorney, and a town manager, as well as information technology and communication professionals. They also have plenty of teaching experience, so they're professional teachers as well.

Leadership

Mary M. Piecewicz, M.B.A.

Learn more about Professor Piecewicz

Education

M.B.A., Babson College
M.S.P.C., Clark University
B.A., Boston College

Professional Experience

Professor Mary Piecewicz has more than 25 years of experience in global operations, policy and people management in the high-tech industry. A certified project manager and certified quality Six Sigma instructor, she has worked closely with global and regional teams on corporate-wide projects.

She joined the School of Professional Studies as an adjunct faculty member in 2010 and became a fulltime faculty member and program lead for Professional Leadership in 2016. Professor Piecewicz is responsible for the Master of Publication Program and is an advisor for the MPA Capstones. She is also a trustee of the Assabet Village Condominium Trust, a member of the Harvard Business Review Advisory Council and a Eucharistic minister at Immaculate Conception Church.

Before founding KP Associates, he had 20 years of business development and marketing leadership experience with businesses ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. As an executive for multiple emerging-growth companies, Professor Aroian has created new distribution channels, forged strategic alliances with industry leaders and established strong market positions leading to significant sales growth and successful exits.

Early in his career, he led Digital Equipment Corp. into the then-emerging wireless communications marketplace and quickly established a $200 million a year partner-driven revenue stream. He has helped large companies like Sybase and Computer Associates to create new business units, globalize their business development and marketing organizations, and maximize channel revenue.

He developed one of the first graduate business school courses on channel development strategies and cross-industry best practices for emerging growth companies. His work on the course led to the development of the Partner Learning Curve, a strategic framework for initial channel entry, and creation of the Partner Mindshare Index, a tool for large companies to assess the long-term health of their channel.

He lectures on international marketing and has deep experiential learning expertise. He has served on the adjunct faculty at Bentley University.

Laura Myers, M.S.W., Ed.D.

Learn more about Professor Myers

Education

Ed.D., Columbia University
M.S.W., University of Connecticut
B.A., University of Vermont

Professional Experience

Dr. Laura Myers has extensive experience working in and directing nonprofits in medical and mental health care, cultural institutions, education and public health. She has taught at numerous colleges and universities in Massachusetts and Connecticut, focusing on program development and nonprofit management.

She previously taught at Clark University and returned to join the School of Professional Studies in 2015. Before returning to Clark, she was on the staff of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and taught in the Graduate School of Nursing at Worcester State University.

Stephanie Medden

Learn more about Professor Medden

Education

Ph.D. in communication, University of Massachusetts Amherst (expected 2017)
M.S. in communication, London School of Economics and Political Science
B.A. in communication, George Washington University

Professional Experience

Dr. Stephanie Medden comes to her position as academic and career advisor for the School of Professional Studies with experience teaching a wide range of courses in media and communication studies at several institutions, including the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Bridgewater State University and Roger Williams University. She is currently completing a doctorate in communication at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and earned degrees with high honors from George Washington University and the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Her research interests are in critical cultural studies, consumer culture, identity and ethnicity. Her current work focuses on creative workers and the construction of Hispanic/Latino identities in strategic communications, such as advertising. She has conducted research in London funded by the National Science Foundation and has presented her work at conferences internationally.

Faculty

Eric Boehme, Ph.D.

Master Public Administration Program
Research/Interests: Institutional risk, political development and citizenship in the United States, labor relations and negotiations.

Christopher Brumby, M.P.A.

Master of Arts in Public Administration Program
Research Interests/Specialization: Health care policy and innovation, design of the health care finance and delivery system, public and private finance, business analysis and management, health care administration.

Learn more about Professor Brumby

Education

M.P.A., Clark University
B.A., Harvard University

Professional Experience

In addition to teaching in the School of Professional Studies, Professor Christopher Brumby is responsible for the negotiation and analysis of value-based provider reimbursement contracts for Medicare programs at Tufts Health Plan in Watertown, Mass.

His teaching interests include public and private finance, business analysis and management, and health care administration. He has experience researching and lecturing about health care policy and innovation, and redesign of the health care finance and delivery system.

Learn about Professor Cascione

Education

Professional Experience

Professor Dean Cascione has experience in business intelligence, operational intelligence, agile project management, risk management, big data analytics, cybersecurity, and is currently acting as a Senior Business Analyst, MAPFRE USA.

At MAPFRE, Dean led the Desktop Support team in migrating 600 Enterprise Call Center employees to the cloud, and is currently architecting real-time analytic solutions to improve the performance and availability of IT production systems. Dean acts as an internal operational intelligence evangelist collaborating with teams on use cases; leveraging analytics to find hidden opportunities to ultimately improve the availability, performance, and security of information systems.

Dean has also assisted with implementing lean agile systems (Kanban and Scrum) within IT Infrastructure and Systems support teams to offer visibility, share risk, foster skillset growth and teamwork, with the ultimate focus on driving teams to get things done.

Dean joined the School of Professional Studies Faculty in 2017. His academic achievement at Clark earned him membership to the Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society in 2007. Dean is also a professional musician who has composed, recorded and released 3 full instrumental guitar albums worldwide. An accomplished luthier, Dean builds his own line of electric guitars, and is president of DC Custom Guitars USA.

Richard Cehon, M.S.

Master of Science in Information Technology Program
Research Interests/Specialization: Program management, business analysis and systems analysis

Learn more about Professor Cehon

Education

Professional Experience

In addition to teaching information technology courses in the School of Professional Studies, Professor Richard Cehon is a principle business analyst at Fidelity Investments.

As a practicing technologist in the financial industry for the past 18 years, he brings practical work experience to his courses, specifically in program management, business analysis and systems analysis. He was a member of a team that was granted a U.S. patent in 2015 for "Methods for Fraud Detection," having been responsible for the analysis and design documentation, and serving as a subject matter expert.

He joined the faculty of the School of Professional Studies in 2008. His academic achievement at Clark earned him membership to the Alpha Epsilon Lambda Honor Society. He also serves as Scoutmaster for Troop 123 in Leicester, Mass. He plays trumpet and is president of the Board of Directors for the Leicester Town Band, and he chaired the Town Administrator Search Committee.

Neil Cohen, M.P.A.

Learn more about Professor Cohen

Education

M.P.A., Columbia University
B.A., Vassar College

Professional Experience

Professor Neil Cohen has nearly 30 years of public sector experience in New York and Massachusetts. He is currently deputy director of oversight and investigations at the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General, an oversight agency dedicated to preventing and detecting fraud, waste and abuse in public expenditures.

Professor Cohen has worked on hundreds of cases involving almost every function of state and local government. His experience includes being the lead for his office on Boston's $16 billion Big Dig project and managing his office's oversight of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) program.

He has numerous professional certifications and is active in a number of professional organizations. He is a volunteer peer reviewer for other inspectors general offices nationwide, and a lecturer for the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners higher education outreach initiative and for the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Fraud Watch Network.

Professor Cohen is also on the faculty of his office's training and certification program. He often speaks at meetings of professional organizations and public agencies. He has been on the faculty of the School of Professional Studies since 2008.

David Crandall, M.S.I.T.

Master of Science in Information Technology Program
Research Interest/Specialization: IT security

Learn more about Professor Crandall

Education

M.S.I.T., Clark University
B.A., Carnegie Mellon

Professional Experience

Professor David Crandall is the director of enterprise architecture at UMass Memorial Health Care, where he is responsible for overseeing the company's technical strategy. Before joining UMass Memorial, he had more than 18 years of experience at high-tech companies, including managing acquisition security and site reliability engineering teams at Google, leading managed service delivery and engineering teams at VeriSign, and leading operational engineering teams at Lycos.com.

Since 2010, he has incorporated his real-world experience into his courses as an adjunct professor in the Master of Science in Information Technology Program at Clark University. He is very active in the local community and has owned nonprofit organizations supporting central Massachusetts.

Joseph Early, J.D.

Learn about Professor Early

Education

J.D., Georgetown University Law Center
B.A., University of Massachusetts, Amherst

Professional Experience

Professor Joseph D. Early, Jr. began his career in law as an assistant district attorney in Hampden County in 1985 before spending two years in the trial division of the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office beginning in 1988.

He ran his private practice, specializing in civil and criminal litigation, from 1990 to 2007, while also representing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as a special assistant attorney general. He was elected district attorney for the Middle District in 2007 and is serving his third term.

Professor Early works with law enforcement agencies in 60 communities, overseeing more than 70 prosecutors, 11 district courts, a superior court, four juvenile courts, three six-member jury sessions, the grand jury and an Appeals Division.

Focusing on the juvenile courts and the prevention of crime, he introduced investigative use of the grand jury and a diversion program for first time offenders charged with misdemeanors. He has bolstered the outreach program for his office, creating programs on sexting, safe dating, distracted driving, domestic violence, elder abuse, fraud and Internet bullying, among others. His outreach team has made presentations to more than 400,000 people.

He formed the Central Mass. Opioid Task Force to help residents of his district deal with the opioid abuse epidemic. His office was awarded a federal grant that is funding research and data collection that will help agencies target their response to the crisis. His office also received a state grant to fund a pilot program for intervening with people addicted to opioids when they overdose.

Professor Early was an adjunct professor at Assumption College and Anna Maria College before joining the School of Professional Studies in 2013.

Julie Frechette, Ph.D.

Master of Science in Professional Communication Program
Research Interests/Specialization: Social media marketing, gender communication, political communication, media relations, communication theory, persuasion.

Learn more about Professor Frechette

Education

Ph.D., University of Massachusetts, Amherst
M.A., University of Massachusetts, Amherst
B.A., University of New Hampshire

Professional Experience

In addition to teaching at the School of Professional Studies, Professor Julie Frechette is a professor and chair of the Department of Communication at Worcester State University, which offers a joint articulation program for students to earn graduate credits in Clark's Professional Studies Program.

She developed the course Social Media Marketing & Communication in the Master of Science in Professional Communication Program at Clark University and won the Teaching Excellent Award at Worcester State University in 2009. Her primary research interests are mass communication, media studies, cultural studies, media literacy education and gender studies. She is the author of Media Education for a Digital Generation, Media in Society and Developing Media Literacy in Cyberspace. She joined the faculty of the School of Professional Studies in 2008.

David Hofstetter, M.S.

Master of Arts in Public Administration Program
Research Interests/Specialization: Organizational and employee performance; coaching, advising and training.

Learn about Professor Hofstetter

Education

M.S. in organizational psychology, Boston University
B.S. in business administration, Boston University
Certificate in training and development, Boston University

Professional Experience

Professor David Hofstetter is the founder and chief strategist of The Hofstetter Group, a coaching, advising and training firm. He is a dedicated organizational and employee performance specialist with more than 20 years of experience, combined with an operational and entrepreneurial mindset.

He is a certified trainer in Myers Briggs (MBTI), Everything DiSC®, 5 Behaviors of a Cohesive Team® and the Energy Leadership Index (ELI). He is also past president of the Central Massachusetts Association for Talent Development (ATD) and co-chaired the New England ATD Regional Conference.

David A. Jordan, D.H.A.

Master of Arts in Public Administration Program
Research Interests/Specialization: Health and human services management, social entrepreneurship.

Learn about Professor Jordan

Education

D.H.A., Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, S.C.
M.P.A., Clark University
M.A., Salve Regina University
B.A., University of Rhode Island

Professional Experience

Dr. David A. Jordan serves as president and CEO of Seven Hills Foundation, an integrated health care and human services organization with an annual operating budget of more than $200 million and 3,700 employees. Seven Hills Foundation operates in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and in eight developing nations.

Dr. Jordan has more than 40 years of experience in health care and human services management, higher education, and sustainable international development. In his current position, he travels throughout the world seeking to foster economic, social and environmentally sustainable practices in under-resourced countries.

Dr. Jordan has served on the faculty at the School of Professional Studies since 2003 and was named Clark University's social entrepreneur-in-residence in 2007. He is also a Professor of Practice in Social Innovation at Becker College, Worcester, and is the inaugural director of the Yunus Social Business Centre @ Becker College the first fully sanctioned YSBC in the United States.

Sarah Lange, M.S.W.

Master of Arts in Public Administration Program
Research Interests/Specialization: Fundraising, nonprofit management, research and evaluation, leadership, strategic planning, board development and communications.

Learn about Professor Lange

Education

M.S.W., Boston University School of Social Work
B.A. in fine arts, Colgate University

Professional Experience

Professor Lange has extensive nonprofit experience, having raised more than $73,000 and worked with more than 200 nonprofits. Her nonprofit management consulting firm, New Era, helps nonprofits raise more money, build better boards, engage in strategic planning and strengthen their communications programs.

She has taught at Boston University's School of Social Work, UMass Boston's College of Public and Community Service, Worcester State University and Assumption College. She has developed a variety of new courses at Worcester State and Clark University. She joined the School of Professional Studies in 2011.

Brian LeBlanc, M.B.A.

Learn about Professor LeBlanc

Education

M.B.A., Babson College
Master's certificate in Windows Development, Boston University
B.Mus., Berkley College of Music

Professional Experience

Professor Brian LeBlanc has experience in operational support, program management and project management at large financial services institutions, as well as engineering experience at several high-tech firms and at a SaaS (software as a service) start-up he founded.

In addition to teaching, he is a senior program analyst for Fidelity Investments. His software company, Atomic Tower, was a finalist in the 2012 MassChallenge, a global competition for start-ups. He began teaching at the School of Professional Studies in 2016.

Kathleen Michels Jordan, Ph.D.

Master of Arts in Public Administration Program
Research Interests/Specialization: Global and community health, nonprofit management.

Learn about Professor Jordan

Education

Ph.D. in health administration, Central Michigan University
Graduate certificate in international health, Central Michigan University
M.Ed. in education administration, Boston College
B.S. in journalism, West Virginia University

Professional Experience

Dr. Kathleen Michels Jordan serves as senior vice president and chief program officer at Seven Hills Foundation, an integrated health and human services company with an annual operating budget of more than $200 million and 3,700 employees.

She has been with Seven Hills Foundation for 13 years and currently oversees programs and clinical aspects of the organization's affiliated companies in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She speaks frequently on issues related to HIV/AIDS and Portuguese-American men at risk, positive behavior supports and data analytics. In addition, she serves on the boards of the Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers and Family Services of Central Massachusetts. She has been teaching at the School of Professional Studies since 2012.

David S. Kassel, M.P.A.

Master of Arts in Public Administration Program
Research Interests/Specialization: Public policy, public sector project management, and communications.

Learn about Professor Kassel

Professional Experience

As principal of Accountable Strategies Consulting, LLC, Professor David Kassel has more than 30 years of experience in government, nonprofit and political research, analysis and assessment. He is also a communications consultant to the Massachusetts Coalition of Families and Advocates, Inc., a statewide, nonprofit advocacy organization for those with developmental disabilities, and their families and guardians.

He was formerly chief of the Management Division of the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General, an independent state agency that prevents and detects waste, fraud and abuse in government projects and programs. While there, he was a lead researcher and co-author of several reports on government partnerships, contracting issues and construction projects.

He has also served as a senior research analyst with the Massachusetts House Post Audit and Oversight Committee and as a journalist with daily newspapers in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The second edition of his book, Managing Projects in the Public Sector: A Strategic Framework for Success in an Era of Downsized Government, was published in 2016 by Routledge.

He is an adjunct instructor in public policy and related courses at Clark University and other universities in Massachusetts.

Elzibeta Manos, M.B.A.

Master of Public Administration Program
Business law and public policy; intersection of business and professional development.

Learn about Professor Morgado

Education

M.P.A., Clark University< BR> B.S. in geography and urban affairs, Bridgewater State College

Professional Experience

Professor Daniel Morgado has held elected or appointed positions in local government since he was elected to his home town's Planning Board at age 21.

Over the nearly four decades since then, he has been appointed to serve in senior management positions in five communities. He is currently the town manager for the Town of Shrewsbury, Mass. He has been teaching courses in the Master of Arts in Public Administration Program at the School of Professional Studies since 1992.

During his career, he has served in various other capacities in leadership, advisory and study committees, commissions and municipal organizations.

Joseph O'Brien, M.P.A.

Master of Arts in Public Administration Program
Research Interests/Specialization: Public policy, issue advocacy, politics.

Learn about Professor O'Brien

Education

M.P.A., John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
B.S. in urban studies, Fordham University

Professional Experience

Professor Joe O'Brien has more than 25 years of experience in government, electoral politics, issue advocacy and community service. Early in his career, he worked for community-based organizations in New York City, Boston and Worcester on a wide range of issues, including youth development, community organizing and environmental advocacy.

For the past 15 years, Professor O'Brien has worked as an elected official, government leader and policy expert. He served five terms in public office, including one term as mayor of Worcester. He also worked as district director for U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Worcester, and has been a public policy consultant for advocacy and nonprofit organizations.

He has taught public policy, issue advocacy and politics in the School of Professional Studies since 2011 and for the past two years, he has also taught urban politics in the Political Science Department.

Robert Schultz, M.B.A.

Master of Science in Professional Communication Program
Research Interests/Specialization: Health innovation, marketing strategy, international immersion programs.

Learn about Professor Schultz

Education

M.B.A., University of Massachusetts, Boston
B.S. in international business, marketing specialization, Northeastern University

Professional Experience

An entrepreneur and marketing executive, Professor Robert Schultz founded Aware Engineering through the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council and is currently CEO of Tunza, which developed a caregiver support application for people who suffer from rare diseases.

He also works with Bentley University's Center for Integration of Science and Industry, where he recently wrote a business case study about HUMIRA, the world's #1 drug, which was developed in Worcester, Mass., by German conglomerate BASF. He developed the Health care Innovation course at University of Massachusetts, Boston, and the Innovation in Spain course at Bentley University.

Before joining the School of Professional Studies this year, he was an adjunct professor at Bentley University.

Tomas Smieszek, M.S.

Master of Public Administration Program​
Research/Interests: Geographical informational analysis of water resources and urban environment at federal and state level; principles, techniques, and real world applications of GIS.

Lisa A. Wong, M.A.

Learn about Professor Wong

Education

M.A. in economics, Boston University
B.S. in economics, international relations, Boston University

Professional Experience

Professor Lisa Wong is a senior fellow at the Governing Institute, where she writes, consults and speaks nationally on issues affecting local and state government.

From 2008 to 2015, she served four terms as mayor of the City of Fitchburg. The first minority mayor in Fitchburg and the youngest female ever elected mayor in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, she was elected to office at age 28.

During her political career, she received numerous awards for her work on environmental issues, community engagement, education and public health. Her awards include being named Conservationist of the Year by the Trustees of Reservations and School Committee Member of the Year by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. She also received the Blue Green Hero Award from the Ocean River Institute and the Gateway Cities Champion Award from MassINC.

Professor Wong's work to engage immigrants has been featured on CNN and she chaired a national environmental justice task force as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Local Government Advisory Committee. Mayor Wong is leading anti-poverty efforts through initiatives like the Working Cities Challenge to create a comprehensive report card that measures how effective investments in education, public safety, transportation and health work to lift people out of poverty. Mayor Wong is training and recruiting women, youth and people of color to become politically active.

She served as a research fellow for the Women's Pipeline for Change in 2011-2012, and is the current Massachusetts State Director for the Young Elected Officials Network. She was recently selected to be part of the Governing Institute's Women in Government Leadership Program. She is a regular speaker at the National Education for Women Leadership New England program at Saint Anselm College, the Asian American Women's Political Initiative, the Leadership Institute for Political and Public Impact, and other leadership programs across the country.

Professor Wong previously served as executive director of the Fitchburg Redevelopment Authority and as executive director of the Women's Institute of Housing and Economic Development. She also taught Global Economics at the University of Wyoming and worked in human rights. She founded a Special Olympics swim team.